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Is Mass Customization the Future of Footwear?

The partnership between Adidas and 3-D-printing startup Carbon Inc. could usher in a new era of bespoke shoes

Adidas has partnered with the manufacturing company Carbon to create a sneaker with a 3D printed midsole: the FutureCraft 4D. Is this the future of footwear? Photo/Video: Jake Nicol/ The Wall Street Journal

By

Isabel Flower

Oct. 24, 2017 9:00 a.m. ET

A miniature running track winds through the Adidas Sport Science Lab in Portland, Ore. It’s a sprawling, sun-filled space, dotted with tech-heavy workstations and medical-looking machinery. On a recent afternoon, I stood barefoot on a Volumental foot scanner while it rendered my feet in 3-D. Then, in sensor-equipped Adidas sneakers, I jogged back and forth across a force plate built into the floor as a group of agile-looking men—clad almost exclusively in Adidas—looked on. The plate measured the contact of the shoe’s tread as well as the load and torque in my stride. Cameras placed around the room recorded my movements...

The once-popular thin flip phone, rendered obsolete by the iPhone, will be reintroduced as a device made by Lenovo’s Motorola Mobility unit and marketed by Verizon. It’s expected to be sold in the U.S. as soon as February.